


make me feel alright

by VenatorNoctis



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, Hugs, M/M, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-04 22:28:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14030187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenatorNoctis/pseuds/VenatorNoctis
Summary: Prompto opens his mouth to say something clever and disarming and what comes out is, "I bet you give the best hugs."





	make me feel alright

**Author's Note:**

> me: I'm totally just in this fandom for porn  
> also me: Prompto needs all the hugs like holy crap
> 
> Just one of those little self-indulgent things you write because there's a specific nice thing you want to see happen to a character.

When he starts training for the Crownsguard, the thing that throws Prompto off the most is how much touching it involves. It's not a thing people do much of, in his experience. Like, Noct will punch him in the arm when they're playing video games, or mess up his hair on purpose when they're arguing about something dumb, and it always leaves him tingly and breathless like a giant nerd, but it's not like.... 

Okay so there's training in _grappling_ , of all things. Sure, cool, makes sense, gotta know how to handle it if you're in close quarters with the bad guys. But there's so much touching, so much holding onto his training partner (sometimes but not always Noct), so much skin against skin. It's a problem. Not even like that! Well, sometimes like that. But mostly just in the way where he's not used to it at all. _At all_. His parents were never huggy. He was an awkward loser as a kid and only sort of got over it by high school. Most of the time people don't get that close.

Which was fine! Not great, not exciting, but fine. But now that he's in training people are touching him just often enough, on purpose, that he's starting to notice how much he wants it to happen more. Hell, he caught himself the other day trying to lean into it when the Marshal was correcting his stance, and that's ridiculous. The Marshal is not here for his weird cuddle cravings.

It comes more easily to Noct, like basically everything. Prompto loves the guy, no question, but he has no idea how much stuff just works out for him. The big stuff he totally gets! It's not like he somehow missed the fact that he's the prince. But the little stuff, like people just wanting to be in his orbit, reaching out....

Like, even Gladio, who's supposed to just be his Shield, all serious business, acts more like his cool big brother. Sometimes Prompto wonders what it would have been like to have someone around for him like that. But worrying about what could have been is just a good way to make yourself sad, so he tries not to dwell too much. He has a great best friend, he feels good about his chances of making it into the guard, it's not a big deal anymore when his parents aren't around—life is overall pretty okay.

He's waiting around outside the training center one evening for Noct to get done with some extra one-on-one stuff so they can go catch a movie. The extra sessions are getting more common and they drive Noct up a wall, so Prompto tries to distract him with fun stuff afterward. 

The door opens just as he's getting Toby into the final room in his current King's Knight zone, and he pauses it quickly, stuffing his phone in his pocket. Noct comes stumbling out the door with Gladio and Gladio's laughing, an arm slung around Noct's shoulders while Noct shoves at him ineffectually, and Prompto's just standing there thinking about how great that is while his heart hurts and it's hard to breathe.

And Gladio looks up and sees him staring. "What?"

Prompto opens his mouth to say something clever and disarming and what comes out is, "I bet you give the best hugs."

For a second Gladio makes this completely surprised face and Prompto's expecting some kind of jackass comment, but then he lets go of Noct and opens his arms. "Sure, pretty good. Come here."

If he doesn't mean it he shouldn't offer. Prompto steps into his reach and Gladio tugs him in the rest of the way. And he was so, so right. He's wrapped up immediately in big strong arms, pressed close against solid warmth. It's not a crushing hug, just a really sturdy one, and even the smell of sweat is more pleasant than people always say it is. Gladio's hands feel like they cover almost his entire rib cage. Prompto leans into it and holds on and feels so _safe_ , so comforted, like relaxing a muscle he didn't know was tense except in his brain.

"Aaawww," Noct says, ruining it.

"Shut up," Gladio says, letting go of Prompto so he can swat at Noct. Prompto watches them screw around, smiling kind of on automatic and trying to memorize the feeling of that hug because the odds of him ever being able to ask for a second one are astronomically bad.

*

Except it turns out he doesn't have to? It's like that was the crucial dialogue option to level up his social link with Gladio or something, and after that he's in the friendly-enough-for-touching category with Noct. Gladio will throw an arm around him when inviting him and Noct out to get dinner with him and Iggy, or squeeze Prompto's shoulder in encouragement when it's his turn to get up and demonstrate a technique in front of the rest of the cadets, or occasionally ambush him with another of the best hugs in the world for no reason at all.

So it's only natural that he starts looking forward to having Gladio around, right? Like, obviously he would. And maybe he's pushing himself a little harder in training, wanting to be not just good enough to make it into the guard but good enough to get Gladio's attention. And maybe that turns into hanging around places where he knows Gladio's going to be, and using his new camera to take some action shots of Gladio, who is after all _stupidly_ photogenic and might have a tendency to show off a little when he notices there's a camera pointed at him.

Then they all get to leave on the road trip together and that's _so cool_ , even when the car breaks down. It's like, his job right now is to hang out with three of the coolest people he's ever met, all day, and go help people out and see more of the country and have adventures like they're video game heroes or something. Sometimes Gladio even says he did okay after a battle, and considering a) Gladio's standards and b) how inexperienced Prompto is, that's kind of amazing.

Even camping is pretty cool. Noct complains sometimes—probably because a sleeping bag on the stone of a haven isn't all that cushy—but Iggy's a wizard at making food over the campfire and sharing the tent with the rest of them is nicer than Prompto would ever want to admit out loud. The warmth comes from their bodies close by, and the sound of the other guys breathing is soothing when he's going to sleep, and sometimes he wakes up with his cheek mushed against Gladio's shoulder or with Noct's arm flopped over his middle. This isn't something that can last forever and he knows that from day one, but while it lasts? It's so good.

*

Insomnia falls and that changes everything.

*

Except for the things it doesn't change: Noct is still the reason they're here. Noct still has a really important job to do. They'd do anything for him. They all look out for each other. They're going to get through this.

*

It does make Prompto think more about the things that matter to him, though. The people that matter to him. What that means, and what he might want, and... stuff like that.

They're stopped one night at a caravan, and it's a quiet night, no King's Knight multiplayer or card games, just chilling. The lights of the outpost hum, that reassuring electrical sound that means the daemons won't come near. Inside the caravan, the water is running as Ignis washes up after dinner. Noct went to bed early, complaining that he didn't get a nap that afternoon so he was sleep deprived. Outside, Gladio is finishing a beer and Prompto is staring off into the darkness trying to give himself a pep talk about maybe someday talking about his feelings.

"Hey," Gladio says, out of the blue, "what's bothering you?"

"Nothing!" Prompto says automatically, because the pep talk isn't working.

"Not what it looks like, but okay." Gladio puts his beer down, glances over at Prompto, looks away again. Giving him space. Even in the dumb outpost lighting he looks great, all ruggedly handsome with that chiseled jawline and... chiseled everything, pretty much.

"It's just dumb feelings stuff," Prompto says. "You wouldn't understand."

"Ouch," Gladio says. "I have feelings."

"Not these ones," Prompto says, because he honestly can't imagine it. "Not like the 'whoops, I've fallen for somebody completely awesome who's never going to think about me like that and I don't even know how to talk about it' feelings."

Gladio hums. "Cindy really got you bad, huh?"

"What? No, that's not—I mean, Cindy's great, she's amazing, but I know that's not happening. Having a crush on her is kind of just like... it's fun? It feels nice? But it's not going anywhere." Prompto looks at his phone, the blank screen, just so he won't have to look at Gladio as he gathers his courage. "This other person on my mind is a lot closer."

"Hey, that means you have more of a chance."

"More of a chance to screw everything up, sure." He tries to smile and it feels so fake and awkward. "I mean, the people I'm spending a lot of time around lately are pretty far out of my league, right? What if I say something and that ruins things?"

"Then whoever it is doesn't deserve you," Gladio says immediately.

Man, Prompto wants to hug him right now. "Easy for you to say, big guy. You've never been outclassed like this in your life."

"You're selling yourself way short." When Prompto manages to glance over there, Gladio's looking at him, so intense and serious he can't keep looking. "And you know, I'm kind of in the same boat. Got it pretty bad for someone myself."

Oh man. Has he fallen for Iggy? He must have fallen for Iggy. Prompto's heart hurts. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Liked him for a while, but it's gotten a lot more intense since we left Insomnia." Even Gladio's voice gets to him, rough and warm. "He's talented, dedicated, loyal, always ready to help out or try to make his friends feel better." There's a pause. "Cuddly as hell, too."

Wait, what?

Prompto looks up sharply. Gladio's just meeting his eyes, calm and steady. "You're not messing with me, are you?" Prompto asks weakly.

"Guy who did that wouldn't deserve you, either," Gladio says.

Prompto should say something cool now but all he can manage is, "Oh."

Gladio gives him that little crooked smile that mostly happens on the scarred side. "Yeah."

Prompto gathers up all his courage and goes over there, lowering himself into Gladio's lap, and Gladio's big hands settle warm at his waist. He leans in for a kiss, his heart pounding as bad as the first time he saw combat, but Gladio is holding onto him and smiling at him and it's fine and their lips meet and it's _awesome_. Gladio's arms wrap around him and his heart just soars. He drapes his arms over Gladio's wonderful broad shoulders, Gladio parts his lips to kiss him deeper, and for a minute everything is perfect.

By the time Gladio pulls back from the kiss, Prompto is giddy. He can't stop himself from smiling, the dumb goofy smile that looks like he's way too into something. But Gladio smiles back, and hugs him tight. "There we go. That's the look I wanted to see."

"What, really?" Prompto asks. Gladio's throat is right there, pulse thudding visibly under the skin, and he kisses it.

"Really." He can feel the rumble of Gladio's voice in his chest from this close. "Feels good, making you happy."

Prompto leans into him and tries to ride out the minute when he feels like he's going to cry. "This is going to sound really dumb, but... can you say that again?"

Gladio _kisses his temple_. "Feels good to make you happy."

"You do," Prompto says, "you really, really do."

He doesn't know where they go from here—well, in the literal sense, right now they don't seem to be going anywhere, which is pretty great. Gladio's shifting to kiss him again and he wants to stay right here, feeling warm and safe and wanted. It's the metaphorical sense he's not sure about: does this mean they're going to be boyfriends now? How does it even work to have a boyfriend? 

But you know? He'll figure it out. He kisses Gladio back, soft lips and rough stubble, and he's got this. It's good. 

It'll be an adventure.


End file.
